The Hard Ones Hit Home
by Holz9364
Summary: After a tough case Castle finds out something shocking about Beckett. A very AU oneshot!


**The Hard Ones Hit Home**

_**A/N - Set after the Season 3 episode "Murder Most Fowl". I saw the way Beckett was with that kid at the end and then how upset the case made her, it seemed like it really hit home and I knew she didn't have kids so what could the reason be? Then this idea popped into my head and I just had to write it, so I hope you like it! =)**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Castle D:**_

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><p>The case had hit him hard; it had hit them both hard. Castle had wondered why the case seemed to bother Beckett so much, he knew for cops the ones with kids were always hard, but it seemed like more than that.<p>

He'd felt torn because he needed to go home to Alexis, but he wavnted to go out with Beckett for a drink, comfort for them both after this case. Castle had been making his way to the break room to ask Beckett if she wanted to meet up later that night when he had heard the woman in question talking on the phone.

"Yeah I know it was meant to be next Friday instead of today, but the truth is I've just had a horrible case about child abduction." Castle frowned, who was she talking to?

Beckett laughed and then said, "Thanks, I'll see you in an hour then, okay, bye." And he heard the beep signalling that the phonecall had ended.

Castle could tell that Beckett was obviously upset so he backed away from the break room and went home. The thing was, he'd gone home to spend some quality time with Alexis, but he'd barely had 10 minutes with her when Ashley arrived and they found his rat, and they went out for milkshakes to celebrate.

Castle sighed, glancing at his watch and seeing that it was only 6.30pm, he'd left the precinct at 6.00pm, it was still early enough to call Beckett, she was probably still at work…but no, he decided to have some dinner first.

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><p>As Beckett drove home she felt excited, this case had worn her out, and it had been horrible for her, it had really hit home and she hated cases that hit home.<p>

She reached her apartment at around 6.15pm and set about making a quick dinner for herself, she tried to eat but she found that she was too excited to even finish her meal; she glanced at her watch, silently wishing that 7.00pm would come faster.

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><p>After a half-hearted bowl of noodles Castle give in, he sighed and called Becketts office phone at the precinct, however, it wasn't Beckett who answered.<p>

"New York police department, this is Detective Esposito."

"Esposito, why are you answering Beckett's desk phone?" Castle asked.

"Uh, because Beckett's not here." Esposito replied, as if it were extremely obvious.

"Oh, right, when did she leave?" Castle asked, glancing at the clock on the wall, 7.00pm.

"About an hour ago, why do you need her?" Esposito asked, nosey as ever.

"Oh it doesn't matter, thanks Esposito." Castle said before ending the call and slipping his cell into his pocket, well, if she wasn't at work she'd be at home Castle figured, "Mother, I'm going out!" He called up the stairs, not waiting for her to reply he left the house, got in his car and drove to Beckett's apartment.

By the time Castle had reached Beckett's apartment it was 7.20pm and he heard laughing coming from inside the apartment, he remembered the phone conversation he'd heard and thought she maybe had a date; he knocked on the door anyway, hoping she was alone.

"One moment!" Beckett called, and as promised a moment later the door opened, Beckett had changed from her work clothes to more casual clothes, sweatpants and an old NYPD t-shirt, "Castle!" She exclaimed, surprised to see him on her doorstep, "What are you doing here?"

Castle smiled, "I just thought you'd appreciate the company, after all, this case hit us both pretty hard."

Beckett nodded, looking slightly awkward, "That's really sweet of you Castle, but the truth is I'm-"

"Mommy, where is bunny?" A soft voice asked from out of sight, causing Castles eyes to widen, Beckett bit her lip, looking away from Castle as a small girl came into view. She looked around 7 years old and she was a mini Kate Beckett, her brown glossy hair reached mid-back and her light hazel eyes were so similar to Becketts it was uncanny. The little girl was wearing pastel pink pyjamas with little white bunnies on them, she was, in a word, adorable.

"It's on your bed sweetie." Beckett told the little girl who hurried off into the apartment, presumably to find her bunny.

"Maybe you should come in." Beckett said, upon seeing the stunned look on Castles face, he took the invitation and followed Beckett to the couch.

Once they had sat down Castle asked, "You're a Mom?"

Beckett nodded, she knew Castle felt betrayed that she'd kept something so big from him for 2 years, "Yeah, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, it's just…being a female cop is hard enough without…" She trailed off, but Castle understood.

"Do the boys know?" He asked, and they both knew who he was referring too.

Beckett replied, "Well Montgomery knows of course, it's in my file, and so do Ryan and Esposito, I've worked with them ever since Victoria was 3, it was hard to not tell them really."

"Victoria Beckett." Castle voiced, and Beckett smiled slightly, "Victoria Lanie Beckett." She corrected, this surprised Castle, "How long have you known Lanie?" He asked, assuming the two ladies had met working at NYPD.

"High school." Beckett admitted, "We were friends whilst I was at college and she was at med school."

"And Victoria's Dad?" Castle asked.

"Roger Fisher." Beckett replied, "We dated for 3 years whilst we were at college, we broke up a few months after Vicky was born. He has custody most of the time because he's an accountant, he works the usual 9 to 5. I get Victoria every second weekend with my work schedule being so hectic."

It all made sense now, that's what she'd been talking about on the phone, it wasn't her weekend but she'd needed to see Victoria after the tough case.

"I was 21 when I found out I was pregnant." Beckett said, almost to herself as she looked into the distance with her eyes glazed over, "And I was determined to not let it ruin my career, I somehow managed to finish college and get into the police, but not without handing over most of the custody to the man who had left me…He's a great Dad now, but it took him so long to figure out where his loyalties lay." She sighed, pulling herself out of her daze, "So now you know."

Castle nodded, "It must be hard, only seeing her 4 days a month."

Beckett bit her lip, "It kills me." She said softly, and Castle knew how she felt, not being able to see Alexis every day, missing her childhood, he couldn't have done it and he was sorry that Beckett felt she had too.

Victoria chose that moment to return, bunny in hand and a smile on her face, when she saw Castle her eyes narrowed and she said, "You're the man from the photos!"

Castle frowned slightly and Beckett laughed, pointing to the wall behind him, he turned around and saw that Beckett had several photos of the team and a few of her and Castle that she had collected out of magazines and photo-shoots they'd had together.

"Yes, I am." Castle said with a smile.

"Are you friends with Aunt Lanie and Uncle Kevin and Uncle Javi?" Victoria asked as she jumped up onto the couch and seated herself between the two adults.

"Yes, I'm very good friends with them all." Castle replied, this kid was so Beckett-like, but so cute.

"What's your name?" Victoria asked.

"My name is Richard Castle, but you can call me Rick." Castle told her, a big smile on his face.

"My name is Victoria, but you can call me Vicky." She said, smiling back at the man.

Beckett smiled, "Okay, now that you've met Rick I think its bedtime." She said, and Victoria ran in the direction of her bedroom so that she could get there first and pick the book, Beckett laughed and told Castle she'd be back in 5 minutes.

True to her word Beckett returned 5 minutes later and offered Castle a glass of wine, he accepted it gratefully and he made a toast, "To solving that case." Beckett echoed this thought and they drank in silence for a moment, both of them lost in their thoughts.

"I guess that case made you want to see Victoria." Castle said rather than asked.

"Yeah, it was a similar situation." She admitted to her friend, "We're separated, I don't particularly trust him, he even works with money, it could have been Victoria."

"But it wasn't." Castle said with a smile, a smile that graced Becketts face too, "It wasn't." She agreed, what was the point in worrying about things that hadn't happened.

"You know, your story about Alexis made me think." Beckett said, "About how you lost her in a shopping mall when she was four." Castle nodded, and Beckett continued, "When Victoria was three I had her for a week whilst Roger was on holiday with his girlfriend. We went to the zoo and I had literally turned around for a second to help a pregnant woman who'd fallen over, I turned around and I couldn't see Victoria anywhere." Beckett paused, the memory obviously still painful, "I looked everywhere, so did the security guards and after 2 hours I honestly had lost hope of finding her."

"Where did you find her?" Castle asked, this conversation feeling like deja-vu.

Beckett smiled a little, "She'd caught a glimpse of this stray cat and had chased after it, she'd gotten lost and ended up sitting with a family in the picnic area, she looked like part of the family so no one assumed she was missing, when I found her I didn't have the heart to tell her off and I never let her out of my sight again." Beckett glanced in the direction of her daughter's bedroom, "But like you said, you still have nightmares about these things."

Castle nodded, he understood a lot more than she knew, and suddenly this little girl connected them, by the fact that they both had a daughter, they had so much in common, so much advice to share with each other, so much more to talk about, and it felt like the start of a whole new chapter, a whole new side of Kate Beckett, a side that Castle couldn't wait to see more of.

**THE END**

_**A/N - I wrote this as a one-shot, but I may continue it. I just need to think of a way for Beckett to get full custody of Victoria…if you have any idea's feel free to help me out! XD**_


End file.
